growing racism in cricket...

no i am not talking about this racist incident against pakistan team... though one could very well imagine the uproar this news would have created had this happened to a visiting team in pakistan or for that matter subcontinent...

but here i am talking about the comment posted in cricinfo commentary during tea of first south africa vs england test being played at centurion...

It's been a fascinating first day and has clearly pleased someone calling himself KP "After 400-run test days; 800-run one-days here in India, its so eye-soothing; sense-fulfilling to see decent bowling; pitches with some life. Whoa! This year will be remembered for some splendid tests; so many dull ones. Hope Centurion belongs to the former."

here i am not against lavishing praise for the ongoing test pitch or bowling... but i am against this growing cricracism that every thing good has to be compulsory equated with cricketing 'filth' that is happening in india... to highlight the disparity... even if there is no obvious link...

but then why come sense of perspective come in way of india bashing...?

last time, i remember, when 400 runs were scored in a day of a test match... it happened in england... when england scored them against australia during 2005 ashes... the first time 800 runs or more were scored in a day in one day international match... that was played on south africa soil... and both time it was praised as the celebration of attacking and exciting cricket at its best... and rightly so...

but when the same happened in india... it must be discarded as dull cricket without ever feeling the need to check things... to make an example out of that...

these so called 'experts' can go to any length to achieve pre-conceived conclusions... to give you few examples...

india can not be no. 1 in test ranking coz we 'choked' in the hyderabad one day match... or we can not justify being no. 1 coz we don't have a star fast bowler...

so when india scores 400 runs in a day of a test... when one of india's proudest son scores almost 300 runs in a day... we are accused of taking or replicating one day cricket to tests...

or when 800 or more runs got scored in a day of one day international in india... it is anything but dull cricket at its yawning worst...

these jaundiced eyes suffering from the eye-flue called cricracism refuses to see beyond paleness blocking their 'vision' that this is not the first time it has happened in a test or one day cricket and certainly won't be last irrespective of where it will happen...

but then again... why reason come in way when you can attract cheap eye-balls by practicing racism in the name of cricket and cricket journalism...?

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thanks to india...

for not only becoming no. 1 test team in the world... but also to many... who suddenly making the ranking system look crap it has always been... conveniently overlooking the fact that you will always be judged on the prevailing measurable scales which are in effect since the start of twentieth century...

its akin to saying a batsman doesn't deserve century coz he was dropped by fielders on many occasions... or that bowlers were not bowling great line and lengths... but does it matter to a batsman...? is he accountable to the opposition being measurable... or them not having enough good bowlers in their ranks...?

whatever be the adopted ranking system there will always be debate on pros and cons of it...

to be the best side in world india will have to beat top teams at their home... there is no argument on this... but on same token one has to accept that being no.1 and being the best is as different as chalk is from cheese...

much the same way that current no. 1 batsman under the prevailing ranking system is gautam gambhir but saying he is the best batsman in the world... is debatable... but stating the obvious won't take away anything from the efforts gambhir has put in since his comeback to the side...

so while let then sooth their enviously burning asses with this flawed ranking system balm... i for that matter urge you to let not this come in your way in cheering the current no.1 test team... which is india...

cheers!

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the battle will resume again...

for the supremacy...for who will become the official test champion of world cricket...

last time australia escaped with thinnest of thread at home...but they will lose the title if south africa shows the same form and determination they showed down under...

how quickly things has changed for australia can be illustrated from this fact that...only three players in ponting, hussey and clarke are in current team from the last oz squad that toured south africa just three years back...would you believe that!

one thing oz has done good even before the first ball is bowled that they have got rid of their fixation for spin bowler...specially mcgain...coz for all the good things Jrod tell us about him...i am not sure he has the body to go through the vigours of five days of intense test cricket...let alone the series...selecting him in the final eleven therefore would have been the waste of one deserving spot...

» related link:
Saffas vs Ozzies... why BCC! should be interested

while australia will be looking forward for (other) new comers to grab this opportunity with both hands to cement their places in team...south africa will certainly be looking forward to have a crack on them to encash their inexperience on bigger stage...

but at the same time seniors of both team specially oz team will have to muster all the experience of playing at highest level to make it count when it matter...

all in all the series has all the ingredients of turning out to be the cracker of a series...where both teams will lock horns for the battle of supremacy...

let the game begin...

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india's quest to become 'world champion' / 'विश्व विजेता' बनने की राह में

हाल ही में जब सहवाग से हिन्दुस्तान के 'विश्व विजेता' बनने के आसार के बारे में पूछा गया तो अपनी सहज स्वभाविकता के साथ उन्होंने कहा...

"चोटी पे पहुँचना फिर भी आसान है, पर वहां टिका रहना काफ़ी मुश्किल, क्योंकि ऊँचाइयों पे हवाएँ तेज चलती हैं..."

यह कविता सहवाग के ईसी वक्तव्य पर आधारित है...

हार का दर्द क्या होता है, जानते हैं
जीत का हुनर भी जानते हैं...
पीछे रह चुके हैं इसलिए
आगे बढ़ने की कीमत क्या है, जानते हैं...

डट कर खेलें तो पा लेंगे हर मुकाम
चोटी पर पहुँच न पाने की टीस क्या होती है, जानते हैं...

मंजिलें सामने हैं, हौंसले परवान पे हैं
पर रास्ते में कितने मोड़ आयेंगे, जानते हैं...

जीत को ही पूजता है ये जहाँ पर
हार कर भी दिल कैसे जीतते हैं, जानते हैं...

विजेता को निर्मम होना पड़ता है पर
जीत कर भी झुककर हाथ बढ़ाने का फ़न, जानते हैं...

(for Hinglish version)


recently when sehwag was asked to comment on india's chances of becoming the top test side, he said with his now trademark simplicity...

it’s easier to get on top but staying at top is the difficult part coz wind flow very fast on top...

my poem is based on his this observation...

haar ka dard kya hota hai, jaante hain
jeet ka hunar bhi jaante hain...
peechche rah chuke hain issliye
aage badhne ki keemat kya hai, jaante hain...


dut kar khelenge toh paa lenge har mookam
choti par pahunch ne paane ki tees kya hoti hai, jaante hain...


manzilen saamne hain, honsle parvaan pe hain
par raaste main kitne mod ayenge, jaante hain...

jeet ko hi poojta hain yeh jahaan par...
haar kar bhi dil kaise jeettay hain, jaante hain...

vijeta ko nirmam hona padta hai par
jeet kar bhi jhook kar haath badhane ka fann, jaante hain...

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नंबर एक बनने की होड़ (The race to become no.1)

आस्ट्रेलिया की टीम पिछले कई वर्षों से चैम्पियन का ताज पहने हुए है। अन्य टीमें सिर्फ़ दूसरे, तीसरे या चौथे नंबर के लिए ही संघर्ष करती नज़र आती थीं, और नंबर एक का ख्वाब लेते लेते फिसल कर निचले पायदानों पर पहुँच जाती थीं।

जिस आस्ट्रेलिया की टीम के सभी ११ खिलाड़ी अपना योगदान देते थे, आज उसी टीम के सिर्फ़ १-२ खिलाड़ी ही संघर्ष करते नज़र आ रहे हैं। उनके नंबर १ के ताज को हिलाने का काम शुरू किया भारत ने और उसे छीनने की पूरजोर कोशिश मे लगा है साउथ अफ्रीका।

इस प्रतिस्पर्धा ने अब टैस्ट क्रिकेट को और भी रोचक बना दिया है।

अब सचमुच मजा आने लगा है और लगने लगा है कि भारतीय टीम जिस प्रकार खेल रही है, उसे जल्दी ही नंबर १ बनने से कोई नही रोक पाएगा। परंतु हाल ही में प्रकाशित आँकड़ों (कृपया तालिका देखें) से स्पष्ट हो गया है कि भारत की टीम को नंबर १ बनने में अभी काफी वक़्त लगेगा, जिसके लिए मैं भारतीय टीम की परफोर्मेंस को नही बल्कि भारतीय क्रिकेट बोर्ड को दोषी मानता हूँ जो टैस्ट क्रिकेट की और ज्यादा ध्यान देता नही नजर आ रहा है।

2009: कौन खेलेगा कितने टैस्ट / who will play how many tests... देश/country सीरीज़/series मैच/match इसमें भारत - पाकिस्तान के बीच रद्द हुई तीन टेस्ट मैचों की सीरीज शामिल नहीं है। पाकिस्तान और श्रीलंका के बीच अगर टेस्ट सीरीज संभव होती है तो वे उपरोक्त संख्या से ज्यादा टेस्ट मैच खेलेंगे। कोई देश अपना कोई दौरा रद्द करता है या आपसी समझ से कोई अतिरिक्त सीरीज खेलता है तो टेस्ट सीरीज की उपरोक्त संख्या घट - बढ़ भी सकती है।The facts can change depending upon circumstances ऑस्ट्रेलिया / australia 5 17 श्रीलंका / shri lanka 6 16 इंग्लैंड / england 4 15 न्यूज़ीलैंड / new zealand 5 12 साउथ अफ्रीका / south africa 4 12 पाकिस्तान / pakistan 3 9 वेस्ट इंडीज़ / west indies 3 9 भारत / india 2 6 तालिका साभार नवभारत टाईम्स / table courtesy from navbharat times

जाहिर है आस्ट्रेलिया जब वर्ष भर में १६ टैस्ट मैच खेलेगा तो भारत सिर्फ़ ६ टैस्ट मैच खेलकर भला कैसे अपनी अंक तालिका में सुधार कर सकता हैं?

हमें बांग्लादेश, वेस्ट इंडीज, न्यूज़ीलॅंड जैसी कमजोर समझी जाने वाली टीमों से मैच खेले हुए कई साल हो जाते हैं..आस्ट्रेलिया के सरताज होने में ये कमजोर टीमें बड़ी मददगार सिद्ध हुई हैं, क्यों हम भी ज्यादा टैस्ट मैच नही खेल सकते ?

यदि ऑस्ट्रेलिया और साऊथ अफ्रीका जैसे मौके भारत को भी मिलें , तो क्या भारत नंबर १ नही बन सकता?

(for english version)


The race to become no. 1

australia has been the champion team for quite some time. during this period other team had no hope but to struggle for 2nd 3rd or even fourth spot...many team would dream to become no. 1 but only see themselves to slip in ranking further...

but not the scene is bit different...there was time when every player in playing oz eleven was contributing now only 1-2 player seem to contribute...india started the slump by defeating australia and now south africa is doing good job down under to remove them from no. 1 position...officially...

this certainly has raised the interest of common cricket fan in terms of who will become no. 1 which is very good for test cricket...

its really seems a possibility that india, the way they are playing, too can become no. 1 but if you closely follow the no. of test matches india going to play (see the above table)...its clear the india will take some time to be no. 1 in test cricket...not for her performance though...but coz of sheer ignorance of BCCI towards test cricket...

its quite clear that while australia will be playing 16 tests in year 2009...india will be playing only 6 matches...then how we can improve on our rating by playing much less?

we don't often play with teams like bangladesh, west indies, new zealand (which are considered relatively weaker teams) and i feel that it helped australia immensely coz they played with weaker teams more regularly than us...why can't we play with them even more?

if we get to play more test matches like australia or south africa...don't you think we too can become no. 1?

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